What are those little brown spots that form on apt. walls that look like drops of nicotine or something?

It's water but you should tell someone about it or move because a family member and her 2 kids lived in an apartment and had those her cats died and her kids would wake up with bloody noses and everyone would have headaches so im not sure if its safe. before she moved there no one told her there was a flood so be careful!

Hm...this sounds familiar.

Years ago I had a boyfriend who moved into an apartment that had been occupied by a very heavy smoker for many years before he moved in. The landlord had painted over all the smokey film on the walls with an enamel paint and whatever that nasty smokey stuff was bled through the paint and formed smelly brown "tears" on the wall. He'd clean them, but within a month they'd be back. It was especially bad in the bathroom, the hall right outside the bath and one wall of the kitchen near the bath. If he didn't wipe them off fairly quickly they'd start running down the wall in brown streaks.

I'd say it's an issue relating to the paint and exposure to moisture somehow.

I don't know if anything can be done about it short of stripping off all the paint and repainting.

Water. It's condensation from too much moisture in the room. Like when you take a cold drink out of the fridge and the bottle sweats. Same thing. Do you have a dryer venting inside? That could cause it. A dehumidifier could help remove the excess moisture...